Kerry gets an earful from angry Syrian refugees

ASSOCIATED PRESS

July 19, 2013 12:01 AM

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, second right, greets a group of Syrian refugees during a joint meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, right, at the Zaatari refugee camp near Mafraq, Jordan, Thursday, July 18, 2013. Angry Syrian refugees urged Kerry on Thursday to do more to help and protect opponents of President Bashar Assad's government, venting frustration at perceived inaction on their behalf. (AP Photo/Mandel Ngan, Pool)POOL AFP

ASSOCIATED PRESS

July 19, 2013 12:01 AM

ZAATARI, Jordan -- Angry Syrian refugees confronted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday with demands for the United States and the international community to do more to help opponents of President Bashar Assad's regime, venting frustration at perceived inaction on their behalf.

Visiting the sprawling Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan near the Syrian border, Kerry met six representatives of its 115,000-strong population, all of whom appealed to him for the U.S. and its allies to create no-fly zones and set up safe zones inside Syria to prevent the Assad regime from inflicting additional destruction. The United Nations says the conflict has killed more than 93,000 people and become the world's worst humanitarian crisis since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

"We are begging you for a no-fly zone," Jamalat Abu al-Hariri, one of the refugees, told reporters after the meeting.

Kerry listened to the complaints for 40 minutes and promised to relay the refugees' concerns to Washington and other capitals. But, he also noted serious complications in meeting the demands and reminded them that the U.S. has provided nearly $815 million in humanitarian aid to Syrians through the United Nations. Of that, $147 million has been directed to relief agencies working in Jordan, which is home to about 600,000 displaced Syrians.

His words, however, did not appear to assuage the six refugees.

Kerry had been warned of a possible hostile reception at the camp, where refugees, frustrated at their living conditions and deteriorating conditions in their homeland, have in the past attacked U.N. staff and other aid workers, but chose to go anyway.